THE BATTLE OF BLOOD RIVER 1838

On November 26th 1838, Andries Pretorius was appointed as leader of a wagon train consisting four hundred and seventy Dutch Voortrekkers, (of which two hundred were men) who were assigned to settle in and around the small outpost of Um Gungundlovu.

Upon hearing of the settlers departure. Zulu King Dingane ordered an army of twelve thousand warriors under his trusted general, Ndlela to prevent this settlement on Zulu territory.

On December 15th, Pretorius received reports that Zulu forces were approaching his position. Pretorius quickly searched out and found a nearby defensive position that possessed a ten foot deep erosion channel on one side and the Ncome River on the other.

Pretorius then ordered his wagons to form a protective lager on the high ground and awaited the Zulus. As dawn broke on the 16th, the encampment began witnessing large numbers of Zulu infantry forming on the opposite bank of the river.

The Zulu advance guard should have laid siege to the lager and await the arrival of the army, but Pretorius ordered his men to open fire upon them. This extremely angered the younger warriors who began to attack impulsively.

As the Zulus struggled across the river they presented easy targets for the Boer riflemen, who  fired multiple volleys into there advancing ranks. More Zulus now began to arrive in force and immediately joined the attack with even greater ferocity.

After hours of continuous fighting, the Voortrekkers rifles began to overheat and become useless, ammunition was now also running low, so Pretorius ordered one hundred men to mount there horses and charge against the land based concentration of Zulus.

The Cavalry charge split the Zulus in two and reached the far side of the embankment, at which time the Boers turned and began to fire into the Zulu rear ranks. Almost immediately the ferocity and cohesion of the Zulu attack soon began to falter.

Caught in a deadly cross fire and facing withering rifle volleys from the Voortrekker Lager and the cavalry, the Zulus were cut to pieces. Along the river the Zulu attack also began to suffer heavy casualties as the wounded began to drown and the remainder of the charge became entangled within the floating bodies of there fellow warriors, making each warrior an easy target.

King Dingane now arrived with the main force and saw the utter carnage and complete destruction of nearly a quarter of his army which now lay before him while the Boers seemed intact and well defended. The King had seen enough and ordered the remainder of his forces to withdrawal.

The battle of Blood River had now come to an end. An estimated 3,000 Zulus had been killed and despite only three wounded, not a single Boer Voortrekker was killed in the action. Although possessing vastly superior numbers and exhibiting fanatical bravery, the Zulu charge was no match against volley rifle fire backed up by a strong well defended position.

BLOOD RIVER 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDP0CBpY5N8